Master of Theological Studies (MTS) Program

African and African American Religious Studies 
Courses in this area delve into the multifaceted dimensions of the religious experiences and expressions of people of African descent throughout Africa and its diaspora. Utilizing interdisciplinary perspectives and methodologies such as historical, sociological, phenomenological, literary, artistic, ethnographic, and theological analyses, these courses explore the lived religious traditions of Black people within both localized and global Africana frameworks.  

Buddhist Studies 
Courses in this area foster the understanding of Buddhists and the life-worlds they have created, historically across Asia as well as in contemporary settings around the globe. This understanding is cultivated through self-reflective interpretations of Buddhist ideas, values, texts, languages, institutions, practices, and experiences, with the expectation that these interpretations will lead to both appreciation and critique of Buddhism, in all its diversity, as a human heritage.  

Christianity  
Courses in this area concentrate on the study of Christianity in its many evolving forms from the first century to the present in locations around the world. A number of disciplinary approaches are represented, including biblical studies, history, theology, ethics, literary studies, and anthropology. Students may choose to center their study on a time, region, or disciplinary approach, or pursue a more general, multidisciplinary study of Christianity in its various forms. 

Comparative Studies 
Courses in this area include the comparative study of religion and anthropology, comparative theology, and comparative ethics. They involve the disciplined study of the complex relationships among themes and concepts, as well as the study of texts, practices, and images, in two or more religious traditions. Such studies by definition involve a self-reflexive, critical analysis of comparison itself. Some courses may be entirely methodological and/or theoretical in content, but the emphasis is normally on concrete comparative practice. Students in this area of focus must take at least two, but may take as many as six courses that are explicitly comparative and listed as such. Or, if they wish, they may identify two different traditions, and with their advisor’s agreement, choose two courses from each tradition that together generate productive comparison, for a total of four tradition-specific courses; for this option, two comparative courses would still be required.  

East Asian Religions 
Courses in this area cover the diversity of East Asian religions—primarily Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Shintoism, and Christianity—from a variety of methodological perspectives—historical, philosophical, literary, and anthropological. While many courses focus on a particular religious community and/or tradition, others consider the richly complex interactions among various religious communities in China, Japan, and Korea. Students in this area are encouraged to explore the religious cultures of the region broadly, including relevant classical and/or modern languages, and to avail themselves of the wide range of courses offered through the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.  

Gender, Sexuality, and Religion 
Courses in this area explore gender and/or sexuality as analytical frameworks within the study of religion. This field encompasses diverse perspectives, including feminist, queer, and trans theory, and examines the experiences, thoughts, texts, and practices of individuals across various gender identities. It also recovers the voices of women, queer, non-binary, and trans-people who have been left out of narratives of religion and aims to highlight previously marginalized areas of religiosity, fostering a more inclusive understanding of the intersection between gender, sexuality, and religion.  

Hebrew Bible/Old Testament 
Courses in this area introduce students to the writings that constitute the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, with attention to their setting within the ancient Near East, to their literary characteristics, and to the history of their interpretive reception, including their significance for contemporary communities of faith and ethical commitment. The courses are designed to serve both students with no knowledge of biblical languages as well as those who have studied Hebrew, Greek, and/or other ancient languages relating to the Bible and who seek to continue building their linguistic foundation for further study.   

Hindu Studies 
Courses in this area foster the understanding of Hindu thought and practice both in India and throughout the global Hindu diaspora. Students in this area are encouraged to explore Hindu texts, ideas, values, and practices from a wide variety of disciplinary perspectives—history, theology, philosophy, literature, and anthropology. Students are also encouraged to undertake the study of Sanskrit and other relevant languages.  

Islamic Studies 
Courses in this area explore different dimensions of the long and varied history and contemporary reality of the Islamic tradition. Islamic scripture, culture, art, law, politics, theology, Sufism, lived religion and constructions of gender, amongst other topics, are examined within diverse historical and geographical contexts, including Asia, Africa, and the Western world.  

Jewish Studies 
Courses in this area explore the Jewish tradition as it has developed over the millennia. In historical terms, it involves five broad periods—biblical, Second Temple, rabbinic, medieval, and modern. Methodologically, it makes use of a number of diverse but interrelated approaches: literary, historical, theological, philosophical, and sociological. The language most relevant to Jewish Studies is Hebrew, though for work in some areas, others, such as Aramaic or Yiddish, may also prove essential.  

New Testament and Early Christianity 
Courses in this area focus on the interdisciplinary study of Christian literature (canonical and extracanonical), history, exegesis, and theology, with special emphasis on hermeneutics, feminist interpretation, and material culture.  

Religion and Ecology
Courses in this area introduce students to the relationship between religion and the natural world, including cultural geographies, and resources within religion to address current ecological crises. Students will study the complex environmental issues that affect humans, non-humans, and more-than-human worlds. Utilizing interdisciplinary theories and methods from areas such as theology, ethics, history, sociology, anthropology, archaeology, pastoral care, literature, decolonial studies, Black studies, animal studies, and Latinx studies, the courses in this area explore the role and significance of ecology in religious and cultural traditions and movements.

Religion and the Social Sciences 
Courses in this area attempt to explicate and account for connections between religious phenomena and several aspects of society including the organization of cultural, political, economic, and reproductive life. This area approaches forms of religious faith, religious experience, and religious organization from post-enlightenment perspectives associated with the disciplines of anthropology, archaeology, history, sociology, social psychology, political and economic science, and sociobiology.  

Religion, Ethics, and Politics 
Courses in this area focus on a range of normative issues that arise within ethical and political cultures. This area encourages students to understand the many social, cultural, and political contexts in which human agents are formed and take action. Special attention is given to the distinctive role that religious beliefs, practices, codes, and mores play in shaping ethical subjects or instructing their dispositions and choices. The area is intentionally interdisciplinary and exposes students to normative issues within a variety of the world's religious traditions.   

Religions in Europe
Courses in this area center on religions in Europe, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and varieties of secularity from the late antique/early medieval period to modernity, with particular attention to the cultures, ideas, histories, practices, and imaginaries developed throughout the European context. Students may focus on a single period (medieval, early modern, modern) or engage the full historical range.  

Religion, Literature, and Culture  
Courses in this area provide students with the historical and critical methods necessary to analyze literary texts from a variety of genres (for example, poetry, biography, fiction, or epic), religious traditions (such as, among a wide range, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, or Santería), and regional/cultural perspectives (e.g., Latin American, South Asian, West African). Recognizing the intersectionality of religion and cultural production such as literature, calligraphy, art, iconography, music, and dance, this area combines literary and cultural criticism with theological and religious analysis. It also recognizes the aesthetic dimension of religion as a basis for understanding such themes as myth, ritual, and transcendence in much of world literature, art, music, dance, and other cultural expressions.

Religions of the Americas 
Courses in this area examine the varied religious traditions and expressions found throughout North America, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Utilizing historical, ethnographic, and comparative methodologies, these courses explore diasporic, immigrant, indigenous, settler, and emerging religious movements. While some courses adopt a broad hemispheric and multi-religious approach, others concentrate on specific geographical regions, traditions, or thematic studies within “the Americas” broadly construed in the contemporary study of religion.  

Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean
Courses in this area focus on religious phenomena in Mediterranean cultures between the sixth century BCE (including classical Greece and post-exilic Judaism) and the eighth century CE (including early Byzantine and early Islamic topics). “Mediterranean” is taken broadly, extending to Persia, Western India, and as far as northwestern Europe in some cases. The area is capacious, cutting across traditional academic designations to include, for example, Second Temple Judaism and Late Antiquity. Much of the work in the area is historical, although engagement with other approaches (e.g., archaeology, critical theory, gender studies, or religious thought) is expected.  

Religious Thought, Philosophy, and Theology  
Courses in this area engage with forms of religious thought, theology, and reflection about religion, religious belief, and practice within or across a variety of religions; they also engage theoretical approaches to religion in general (e.g., philosophy of religion). Central topics range from understandings of ideas such as ultimate reality, the divine, law, religious communities, and salvation, to those focused on the nature of religion, religious experience, religious language, and the status and justification of religious belief and action. Other courses treat religious ideas and imaginaries, the relationship between religion and ethics, religion and aesthetics, and theories of practice relative to the interplay of religious subjectivity and ritual. Work in this area can be pursued in relation to a single religious, theological or philosophical tradition, or comparatively. It is also possible to include work in European and American philosophy, the philosophical traditions of Asia, Islamic philosophy, etc., in consultation with your advisor.  

South and Southeast Asian Religious Traditions 
Courses in this area cover the diversity of South and Southeast Asian religious traditions—primarily Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity—from a variety of methodological perspectives, including historical, philosophical, theological, literary, and anthropological. While many courses focus on a particular religious community and/or tradition, others consider the richly complex interactions among various religious groups in South and Southeast Asia and the global diaspora. Students in this area are encouraged to explore the religious cultures of the regions broadly, including relevant classical and/or modern languages. 

Master of theological studies (MTS) students focus their studies around a central area of interest within the 20 established areas of focus or by designing their own area in conjunction with their advisor and the curriculum committee chair. (Note: individually designed programs should be created based on the course offerings and capacity of HDS to support that area as a field of study.) Not all courses available and of interest belong to an area of focus. The program is designed with sufficient flexibility to allow selection from among all course offerings. Students are encouraged to select these courses when appropriate to their interests or program.

Below are the basic requirements of the degree. Additional requirements, policies, and details of the below may be found in the HDS Handbook for Students. 

• Two years of full-time study 
• Sixteen half courses (64 units) 
• Completion of "Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion" in the first term of enrollment 
• Six courses within the student’s declared area of focus, three of which must be HDS courses. The courses must be taken for a letter grade and the student must receive grades of B- or higher. 
• A distribution requirement of three courses significantly outside the student’s declared area of focus, two of which must be HDS courses 
• Six electives (may be within the student’s area of focus)
• Intermediate level reading competency in a language that is relevant to the student’s area of focus determined by either course work or through examination 
• Residency requirement: students must complete a minimum of three courses in each of two of the consecutive semesters during the student's first three semesters of enrollment. 
• Thirteen of the sixteen required classes must be taken for a letter grade, three may be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis 
• "B" average must be maintained throughout the program 

Language Requirements 

Language study at Harvard Divinity School is one of the highlights of many students' experience. Master of theological studies (MTS) students must satisfy a language competency requirement by demonstrating intermediate reading competency in a language of scholarship in theological and religious studies.  

HDS offers instruction in several languages, including Pali, a written language of early Buddhism. Students may also choose from the extensive language offerings of Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Students are expected to address their language requirements as early in their programs as possible. 

Students in these programs are not limited to the languages examined by the School and may meet their requirement with another language subject to the approval of the appropriate curriculum committee. There are four ways MTS students may demonstrate intermediate-level reading competency to satisfy the language requirement with one of the seven languages examined by HDS: 

• By passing an HDS language qualifying examination (given in September and April; in addition, French, Spanish, and German will be offered in January). Samples of previous qualifying exams are available for practice. 
• By completing with a grade of B- or better the second semester of an HDS intermediate-level course in Greek, Hebrew, Pali, or Arabic (e.g., 4021 Intermediate Classical Hebrew II, 4221 Intermediate Greek II, 4055 Intermediate Pali II, or 4361 Intermediate Arabic II) or one semester of an HDS advanced intermediate-level course in Latin (e.g., Readings in Christian Latin: Hildegard of Bingen and the Gospels). 
• By receiving a grade of A- or higher on the final exam in a modern language course in the School's Summer Language Program. 
• By receiving an A- or better in 4414 Advanced Intermediate German Readings or 4454 Advanced Intermediate French Readings or 4464 Advanced Intermediate Spanish Readings. 

For languages taught at Harvard University other than those offered and examined by the Divinity School, the same principles will apply for satisfying the language requirement. Students must achieve intermediate competency, which is usually measured as finishing with a B- or better the fourth semester of a language course that follows the four-semester model. For languages that do not fit the four-semester model, the student should consult with the director of language studies and provide a description of the courses from the FAS catalog or from the instructor. 

For languages not taught by any instructor at Harvard University, intermediate competency will be demonstrated by a satisfactory grade (low pass or better) in a language examination. In such cases, the student must submit a petition signed by their advisor to the MTS Committee Chair that details the reasoning for the student’s  choice of language. If the MTS Committee Chair approves of the petition, the exam will be administered by the HDS Registrar in collaboration with the Assistant Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs.